Introduced to Jesus by a Colleague
Kah Weng, 2nd Congregation
Kah Weng
My journey in faith has been a journey full of questions. I attended church as a little boy but my father believed in not being influenced by religion at a young age and wanted me to make an informed decision when the time was right. When I got older, I began to think that Christian friends who went to church on Sunday were wasting their time. I would judge their motives, and I wondered why Christians seemed so close-minded. This changed last year, when I learnt the importance of believing in how Christ has saved us from our sins through his sacrifice on the cross.
I always idolised what I thought could be done with my own two hands and very often was carried away with the disappointment that followed. By turning good things like work and relationships into idols, I would often get angry when things did not go my way. One of my biggest struggles was thinking Christians were very judgemental towards non-Christians. I used to think that they had very harsh views towards homosexuality; after all, if God was loving, what was wrong with the idea of love in unconventional forms? A second area I struggled with was the idea that one could love God more than one’s own family. Yet on each point, God spoke to me through conversations in my previous CG, one-on-one bible reading, and even books. As I read in Counterfeit Gods (Tim Keller) about Abraham obeying God’s command to sacrifice his own son, I began to see the problem of idolatry. I saw how even the blessing of family could be taken for granted as I had begun to prize the gift more than the giver himself. While I still have questions, I now know that there is a bigger picture and think about what Jesus would do in the same position. I also recognise that Jesus is not only an example for me, but also a Saviour who gave his life for sinners who are unable to come close to perfect obedience to God.
My journey of faith began when I became closer to my colleague, who has since day one told me that in order for all of us to be saved we must have trust in God and in Jesus. Every question and doubt I had about faith, she patiently answered in a way that a non-believer could accept and understand. At that time, I realised that God was trying to speak to me. Allow me to explain. I never liked reading books. When I was a child, storybooks could never sustain my attention as they did for other children. Even today, I barely spend any time reading, except for articles about how to become stronger and fitter because of my job as a PE teacher. However, after getting to know this colleague, I began to read scripture and started to learn more about the Bible and its relevance to my everyday life. She was also the one who introduced me to Counterfeit Gods, which I have been reading for the past 2 months. I believe God has worked in me powerfully through the influence of other people in the body, and he continues to put new interests in my heart to teach me more about him.
Now that I have become a believer, I find that in times of failure I turn to God in prayer to ask for strength and guidance. I reflect on what I may have done wrong, and always ask if this was God’s way of guiding me to grow in Christ-likeness. As Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose”.